First LED flashlight choice?

One mid January night, while thawing a frozen outdoor storm drain, a contractor attracted much attention when he turned on his Surefire Avaitor A-2 LED flashlight. That 5W Luxeon flashlight burned thru the mist and made our other lites seem yellow. I started looking into LED lights and found that Surefire and Streamlight seem to own the market. The Luxeon 1W and 5W look good but battery time is limited. A combination of a Xenon, or Luxeon bulb, surrounded by a ring of LED's looks good also. Any opinions out there about what to buy the first time?

The guy must of had a Surefire L-4 which is a five watt Luxeon.The A2 has a powerful incandescent main beam and three 5mm LED's surrounding it which have very minimum brightness but will run forever on the batteries.

If you want a bright Led light that is compact yet powerful you half to go with a Luxeon light.There are also some larger D Cell size lights with 10 or more 5mm led's that put out a lot of light but none of them have a lot of throw.

As far as Luxeons with good brightness and decent battery life go one of the best avaliable for the price is the Streamlight 3aa tasklight with a 3 watt luxeon.

Elektrolumens makes some great lights with 1 watt and 3 watt luxeons that use C and D cell batteries.

If you have no white led lights;
Just go to your local department store and get a "single" led light and try that out and keep it under $10 bucks. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Otherwise go for www.Inretech.com ( a site sponsor for this forum) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif, or any good name brand using Luxeon1, 3 or 5 in it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
www.ledmuseum.org can shed much more light on this subject in a huge way! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

This seems like a really good deal if you don't need a regulated light. ie, it will get dimmer as the batteries are drained. It will be my first LED flashlight /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

XM2 LED Flashlight


--
Jeff

Also, the luxeon is a type of LED,not an incandescent bulb.
These led's can also be and are Regulated to get the battery life and brightness the maker wants.

There are also luxeon lights out now with variable brightness selectable by the user so the brightness and battery life are determined by your needs(this makes a light with say a powerful luxeon surrounded by less powerful 5 mm led's or a light like the A2 with a Incandescent center bulb redundant)

Two examples are the new Surefire U2 5 watt with one led with six brightness settings.And the new Arc4+ with a one watt luxeon and 15 brightness settings.

I have to throw in the obligitory Arc sales pitch.

If you want a light that is quite bright, yet small enough to carry on your belt every day, then look into the Arc4. It is also dimmable, and goes from very bright to very dim.

http://www.arcflashlight.com

If the sticker shock is too much, you could do far worse than to get an Arc LSH.

These are comparable in price to the Surefire LED models, yet is a LOT smaller.

If you are on a budget, then Streamlight and Pelican have some nice models for well under $100. They will not have the same "feel" as a Surefire, but they offer more bang for the buck. If I were ordering these brands, I would go to http://www.brightguy.com

ARC was the first to use a Luxeon in a commercially made light. Many here, including myself, still consider them to be out front in leading edge Luxeon lights.

There are lots of LED flashlight choices these days. You didn't mention any other criteria that might be important to you, such as: flashlight size (are you wanting to carry this around with you or is it going to be in the car or on a shelf at home?), battery type (is a common battery type important?), runtime (a trade off with size and battery type), or use in wet or freezing conditons. Also, is this for everyday use or emergency standby? For example, if everyday use you might want to consider a light that could use rechargable batteries. If for emergency standby you might want to consider something that used 10 year shelf life lithiums.

There is no one light that is going to "perfect" under all circumstances and for all purposes (which is why all the addicts here have so many lights). There is, however, probably a great light available for whatever criteria you have.

And you have come to the right place for advice......... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[ QUOTE ]
N710 said:
Streamlight 3aa tasklight with a 3 watt luxeon.

[/ QUOTE ]
the Streamlight 3AA Tasklight is only a 1watt. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

i agree with N710, go to http://elektrolumens.com!

My first choice was the Pelican M6. Small, light, really bright (1Watt Luxeon). I'm also trying a couple of drop-ins for my old 2AA minimag. So far the M6 rules!

If you need the most brightness, then the Pelican M6 LED is the clear winner of the lights I have seen. I also have a Streamlight TL-2LED that is almost as bright, but not the equal of the Pelican. It is smaller however, and that makes it preferable to me.

Jerry

I recently acquired a Pelican M6 Led and must say that it is probibly the best all around Luxeon I have seen for its brightness and cost.This is comming from someone with a ARC4+,L4 and L5.

I think it should be nominated for light of the year,its that good!

Around CPF, you definitely need an Arc AAA, and/or Arc AA, and/or Infinity Ultra. Those are far too useful to not have one. I have an Ultra.

There are alot of different LED lights, and a wide price range. So don't limit yourself to Surefire, Arc, or Streamlight. Streamlight has some very reasonably priced luxeon lights.

The Inova X5T is also an excellent choice.

The brightest I have are the SF L6, Electrolumens Anglelux&
Mr Bulks modded 3AA Brinkman legend. I am awaiting the XM2
from Electrolumens. I think it will be A big hit. BTW I EDC the Arc 4+ factory second
Topper /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

If you are like most people, including myself, price will be a large part of the equation. With this in mind, you will not be unhappy with the lights from Streamlight. The quality of these lights is second to none within the same price range. Also, Pelican lights are getting a lot of attention. That will probably be my next purchase as everyone seems to like them.